Big Garden Birdwatch: What birds to keep an eye out for and how to spot them

Credit: PA Images

This weekend marks the start of the Big Garden Birdwatch, the world's largest wildlife survey by the nature conservation charity RSPB Cymru.

The charity wants to encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to take some time out of their days to enjoy the wildlife in their areas between January 29 and January 31 2021.

The RSPB Cymru said: "The beauty of this survey is that anyone can take part, and it only takes an hour.

"People can contribute to the survey by just looking out of the window at their back gardens, from the office, or from a city park.

"It’s simple, and an easy way to collect important data that helps give us an idea of how garden birds across the country are faring."

Credit: RSPB

Thousands of people across Wales participated in the survey last year, with over 24,000 people taking part, and a total of 462,109 birds spotted.

Here are some of the birds that you may be able to see:

  • Chaffinch

  • Long-tailed tit

  • Coal tit

  • Collared dove

  • Goldfinch

  • Starling

  • Blue tit

  • Great tit

  • Greenfinch

  • Dunnock

  • Magpie

  • Blackbird

  • Woodpigeon

  • Robin

  • House sparrow

Clockwise: chaffinch, goldfinch, collared dove, coal tit, long-tailed tit. Credit: PA Images

The RSPB has provided a guide for how to spot the different types of birds in your back gardens or local areas:

Chaffinch

The RSPB says the chaffinch is one of the most widespread and abundant bird in Britain and Ireland.

Its patterned plumage helps it to blend in when feeding on the ground and it becomes most obvious when it flies, revealing a flash of white on the wings and white outer tail feathers.

The charity say you'll usually hear chaffinches before you see them, with their loud song and varied calls.

Goldfinch

The goldfinch is a highly coloured finch with a bright red face and yellow wing patch.

Their long fine beaks allow them to extract otherwise inaccessible seeds from thistles and teasels. In winter, many UK goldfinches migrate as far south as Spain.

Collared dove

Collared doves are a pale, pinky-brown grey colour, with a distinctive black neck collar (as the name suggests). They have deep red eyes and reddish feet.

The RSPB says their monotonous cooing will be a familiar sound to many. Although you'll often see them on their own or in pairs, flocks may form where there is a lot of food available.

Coal tit

The coal tit has a distinctive grey back, black cap, and white patch at the back of its neck. Its smaller, more slender bill than blue or great tits means it can feed more successfully in conifers. In winter, they join with other tits to form flocks which roam through woodlands and gardens in search of food.

Long-tailed tit

The RSPB says the long-tailed tit is easily recognisable with its distinctive colouring, a tail which is bigger than its body, and undulating flight. Long-tailed tits are most usually noticed in small, excitable flocks of about 20 birds.

They tend to rove the woods and hedgerows, but are also seen on heaths and commons with suitable bushes.

Clockwise: starling, blue tit, great tit, greenfinch, dunnock. Credit: PA Images / RSPB

Starling

Smaller than blackbirds, with a short tail, pointed head, triangular wings, starlings look black at a distance but when seen closer they are very glossy with a sheen of purples and greens.

Starlings spend a lot of the year in flocks and are one of the most common garden birds.

Blue tit

The RSPB says the blue tit is a colourful mix of blue, yellow, white and green. In winter, family flocks join up with other tits as they search for food.

Great tit

The RSPB says the great tit is green and yellow with a striking glossy black head with white cheeks and a distinctive two-syllable song.

It is a woodland bird which has readily adapted to man-made habitats to become a familiar garden visitor.

Greenfinch

the nature conservation charity says its twittering, wheezing song and flash of yellow and green as it flies, make this finch a truly colourful character. The greenfinch is a regular garden visitor, able to take advantage of food in rural and urban gardens.

Dunnock

The dunnock is a small brown and grey bird. The charity says it is often seen on its own, creeping along the edge of a flower bed or near to a bush, moving with a rather nervous, shuffling gait, often flicking its wings as it goes.

Clockwise: magpie, blackbird, woodpigeon, robin, house sparrow Credit: PA Images

Magpie

The magpie has black-and-white plumage and a long tail but the RSPB says when seen close-up, its black plumage takes on an altogether more colourful hue with a purplish-blue iridescent sheen to the wing feathers and a green gloss to the tail.

Blackbird

The male blackbirds live up to their name but, confusingly, females are brown often with spots and streaks on their breasts.

The bright orange-yellow beak and eye-ring make adult male blackbirds one of the most striking garden birds. One of the most common UK birds.

Woodpigeon

The UK's largest and commonest pigeon, the woodpigeon is largely grey with a white neck patch and white wing patches, clearly visible in flight. Its cooing call is a familiar sound in woodlands as is the loud clatter of its wings when it flies away.

Robin

Ths RSPB says the robin is the UK's favourite bird - with its bright red breast it is familiar throughout the year and especially at Christmas.

Males and females look identical, and young birds have no red breast and are spotted with golden brown.

House sparrow

House sparrows are noisy and gregarious. The RSPB says monitoring suggests a severe decline in the UK house sparrow population, recently estimated as dropping by 71 per cent between 1977 and 2008, with substantial declines in both rural and urban populations.

While the decline in England continues, Breeding Bird Survey data indicate recent population increases in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.